PALM HARBOR, Fla. – Canadian golfer David Hearn hopes to get his game to the next level in order to make this year’s Presidents Cup team and the Olympic team in 2016.

The 35-year-old from Brampton, Ont., who became a professional golfer in 2001, played out of the Brantford Golf and Country club as an amateur, and was a member of the winning Canadian team at the 2001 Four Nations Cup.

Heading into the Valspar Championship, the current 161st-ranked golfer in the world believes that his game is coming together and would like to continue gaining trust in his own ability.

“For me, right now, I’ve been doing everything right in practice and my game feels good,” said Hearn before a practice round at Innisbrook Resort Tuesday. “Sometimes it’s just a putt at the right time that goes in that kind of sparks your confidence a little bit, so, for me, I feel like my game is incredibly close, so I just have to be patient mentally and wait for those tournaments to come where I’m playing well.”

Winner of the Alberta Classic on the Nationwide Tour and the Times Colonist Open on the Canadian Tour in 2004, Hearn came up just short of earning his first PGA Tour win at the John Deere Classic, losing in a three-player playoff to American Jordan Spieth in 2013.

Hearn, who acknowledges his season hasn’t started the way he would have liked, believes he can turn it around and hopes to do so in time for this year’s Presidents Cup.

“Absolutely, at the beginning of the year we kind of look at where we’d like to be by the end of the year and that Presidents Cup team has definitely been on my radar,” said Hearn, “I haven’t played great yet this year, but I know there’s a lot of time before that tournament and if I get on a little bit of a role, I know I can play the type of golf that can get me there.”

Golf will be played at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio for the first time since 1904, and the second-highest ranked Canadian golfer, who recently represented his country in the 2013 World Cup, is excited about the opportunity.

“I hope so, if I keep playing the way I know I can, I’d love to represent Canada, it would be a tremendous honour and it’s something that, ever since they’ve announced it (in 2009), that’s something that I’ve looked forward to the opportunity to do,” Hearn said.

“I’m in position right now, but there’s still a year and a half to go, so I’ve got a lot of young players that are playing great golf that I need to try to stay ahead of.”

He also recognizes what it means to Canadians to have an athlete competing in an event like the Olympics, and knows that the nation would be behind him.

“It’s great to have the support and Canadians are very proud of our athletes and it’s really great to have that kind of support,” said the Olympic hopeful.”